Coppery Devil
by TryingToRestart
Summary: A meadow covered in snow. Blood splattered all over it. Bella's soft breathing and his chase. Will one decision change everything?
1. Prologue Coppery devil

_**Disclaimer: All the characters are Stephanie Meyer's, however the plot is mine. **_

_**Before you begin to read, I sincerely hope you're going to like it. You can write what you think in a review and criticism is well accepted. **_

_**Enjoy.**_

_**If you find any errors, please tell me since I'm not mothertongue.**_

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**Prologue – Coppery devil**

"P-please, d-don't! I-"

Bella couldn't help but jump frightened at the sudden and loud bang that filled her ears, echoing through the glade. It had been like a thunder in a bright sunny day. It came and disappeared moments later, leaving no trace of its passage. The clearing returned quiet again as birds continued to escape from treetops, furiously flapping their wings in the haste of evading any kind of danger.

Bella's mouth was halfway opened but no sound came from her rosy lips. The cold air was hurting her cheeks, making them turn from a light pink to an angry red, and winter's wind made her brown locks fly freely around her face.

The scene in front of her was almost surreal. An angel. That was what she thought she had seen at first. She was facing his back so that she could see his wild coppery hair and broad shoulders that changed into a lean back and waist, covered by a long black coat. But those hair. The way they reflected light was surreal.

Bella couldn't see what was crouched in front of him but she could well imagine it. A man.

A _dead_ man.

That loud sound that had shaken her had been a gunshot. Directed towards the man's head. Never in her life she had heard something so loud and yet ephemeral. It came and disappeared. Moments, seconds and everything had returned quiet once again. However, that mere istant had terrified her. Shocked her. Making her tremble. She had fallen in a coma where she could still hear and see what surrounded her. Only, her body didn't seem to be inclined to cooperate with her.

Then, a small _thud_ woke her up.

The wrapped sandwich that was supposed to be her lunch was laying forgotten on the snow covered ground at her feet. Her fingers, cold and in the middle of the air in front of her, had lost their grip on it.

Her chocolate eyes slowly looked down at her feet and tried to focus on her lunch. Lunch. She had decided to skip school that day and hide in her meadow. _Hers._ She hadn't thought it could had been the perfect place for a murder. Nor she could have thought that going to school that day would have been safer. Much safer. Bella thought nobody knew about her secret clearing. It was way too far from the main road.

She had been wrong.

Everything in her mind was a blur but pieces were slowly sticking together. She was alone in the middle of the forest with a stranger that had just killed another man in front of her. Danger, that was what she was in: pure danger.

And then a thought crossed her mind.

Had he seen her?

Afraid to look up, Bella forced her eyes to move until they rested on the angel in the center of the clearing. She didn't meet coppery hair, nor his back.

She was facing him.

She used only a second to look at him from head to toe. A long white scarf was wrapped around his pale neck and black gloves covered his hands, with big black boots at his feet that protected him from the frozen ground. He would have looked like a common man if he hadn't had a grey gun in his right hand.

His fingers were wrapped around it, almost relaxed. Behind him, red was splattered on the white snow. Blood. Too much blood for her liking. Fortunately, Bella's instinct kicked in seconds later with only a little word dancing in front of her eyes.

_Run._


	2. Run, Run, Little Prey

**First chapter! Hope you're going to enjoy.**

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**1- Run, run, little prey**

The burgundy stream escaped from the man's neck in spurts, quickly drying him. Blood was splattered in a half circle around him but it never reached his boots while the snow that covered the meadow was becoming more and more red as the stream increased its flow.

The man's skin was already pale and probably cold at the touch. His eyes were open but no life's movements could be seen anymore. He had died almost instantly, after two or three seconds of pain. The bullet had pierced through the soft skin of his neck until it had stopped at his carotid, leaving no chance of survival.

Edward silently praised himself for his work. It had been quick and hidden, where nobody would find the corp. It would be a matter of days before wolves or bears would eat the dead body, attracted by the blood's smell, leaving no trace of his passage.

It had been a real fortune to find the meadow.

At first he had decided to kill him in the woods, because dragging him around was rather troublesome as he made resistance. Then, he had seen the clearing from the trees and decided it would have been the perfect place. Safe from prying eyes and ears, he hadn't even had to use the silencer on his gun: people would think it had been a hunter in the woods killing a boar.

It had been quite simple to find the man he was searching for. Forks was so small that all people knew each other so he just had to lie about being a distant cousin. No one suspected him to be a hitman. Not many would, thanks to his appearance.

He had found his house in a quiet road and waited for him to come home from work. He didn't have to wait long, just a few hours, and he hit him in the head, making him faint. Then, with his Vanquish, he had stopped in a minor road that led to the woods.

The worst part had been when he had to drag him through the trees and listening to his pleas. He would eventually kill him, pleading was useless.

Green eyes continued to observe the body at his feet with no emotion. Another successful job. The first thing he was going to do as soon as he reached his car was going to call his boss and earn his pay, then he would be free for a while. He did need to settle a few things.

Only, things don't always go as we would like them to.

_Thud._

If he hadn't heard wrong, something had fallen not far away from him. Slowly, he turned. It could have been an animal or some snow fallen from a tree. Never he would have thought a girl.

A girl.

Pale skin, brown and long hair floating in the wind, angry red cheeks. She was looking at him, frozen in place. Her long black boots that reached her calves stopped to meet a pair of blue jeans and the rest of her body was covered with a grey coat that hit her knees. Her hands were naked and probably cold.

But she didn't seem interested in her hands.

She was far more interested in him. Edward saw her quickly looking at him from head to toe then her eyes rested on his hand. His gun hand. She seemed terrified of the steel object that laid motionless there.

Her eyes moved frantically from right to left, from up to down.

Then something in her head began to work again and, making a soft and trembling sound, she turned on her heels and run towards the trees, hoping to find a safe place away from his gun.

Away from him, a killer.

Edward was dumbfounded. How could have he been so stupid? She had witnessed everything. She was going to talk. She had listened to the man's pleas and seen when he had pulled the trigger. She had seen how he had died. She had seen his gun.

His _face._

She knew his face.

Everything in Edward's mind began to piece together. She was a witness. He had never left witnesses. He had always killed them. However, she seemed young. Too young for his liking.

_But she has seen you! _A little voice said in his mind.

His fingers gripped tightly the steel gun and his decision was made.

**Oooooo**

_Run!_

The little and simple word continued to repeat itself in her mind, leaving no room for other opinions. What do you do if you have just seen someone kill another man? You run, end of the story. You run hoping to reach a safe place, hoping that he will eventually go away.

You hope he won't see you.

Too bad he had turned fully to see the sound's provenence.

Due to the snow, the ground was slippery. Bella had already fallen a few times but the haste of getting to her old chevy and run away was far more important. Some scratches had appeared on her hands and one long gash was on her cheek, thanks to a branch. It stung and she was sure that some drops of blood were already falling but she didn't have the time to stop.

Her breath was coming in ragged gasps and her legs were weak, whether because of the run or because of fear, she didn't know. However, running on the snow, in the middle of the woods, was more difficult and tiring.

She wasn't even sure she had chosen the right path.

Bella's eyes were desperately searching for any sign of the street but she found nothing. Trees, snow and more trees around her. She had likely got lost. It didn't matter to her, anyway. Her life was definitely more important.

Bella had always been clumsy. She would fall at least once a day, hurt herself during the month and probably finish in hospital by the end of the year with a broken arm or leg. She didn't have fortune. She had bad luck and she could do nothing about it. It was like a curse that had been haunting her since her birth.

Fighting back the tears that were already threatening to fall, she didn't see a tree's root in her way. Her feet was entangled in it and Bella fell hard on the snow. Pain spread from her ankle to her leg and she let out a small scream.

"Shit!" She cursed, reaching for her ankle and see if it was broken. "Please...please, don't let it be broken..." She pleaded.

Sprained. The ankle was sprained but now Bella was far more worried about herself. She couldn't run, nor call for help. She was lost in the woods, away from Forks and her chevy. Alone, with a killer searching for her.

"Shit...shit...shit..." She continued to repeat like a mantra.

Then a sound coming not far from where she was made her panic. With trembling hands she grasped a branch and tried to get up but miserably fell again. Frantically she looked around herself and spotted a big tree not far from where she was that could hide her.

Crawling, with her knees getting more and more wet and her hands becoming pale and frozen, she sat behind the log. Praying he wouldn't come.

A cracking sound suddenly filled again her ears. He was near, he had found her! Chocking back a sob, she put a hand on her mouth trying to stay quiet. Crying wouldn't help.

As soon as she could clearly hear footsteps, she understood how he had found her: the snow. She had left footprints on it!

Bella hugged her knees and restes her head between them. She didn't want to see nor to listen. She wanted to disappear. She wanted to wake up in her bed at home, with Charlie soothing her because of a nightmare.

"Play hide and seek won't help you." The soft voice spoke not far from her, startling Bella out of her thoughts.

"Come out, you have nowhere to go."

The killer's voice was soft, almost whispered. It wasn't rough like she had thought, nor cold and distant. To her ears, it seemed warm and welcoming.

_Stop! He's trying to deceive you!_

"I want to talk to you, to settle things between us. You don't have to fear me, I won't hurt you."

_You say that now! Don't listen to him, stay hidden!_

A soft whimper escaped Bella's lips as tears slowly fell from her eyes to the snow. Silently praying for him to go away, she didn't hear him coming closer and closer, until a warm breath caressed her hurting cheek.

"Found you."

Bella's eyes widened and she couldn't help a scream from her mouth. Panicking, she began to crawl through the snow. Anywhere was better than near him. The cold ground burned her hands, making her wince at each step she took. Her knees hurt, together with her ankle.

She didn't crawl for long.

A hand closed around her good ankle and yanked her backwards towards him.

She let out another scream and tried to kick him while continuing to crawl away.

A second hand reached for her bad ankle. As soon as it grasped it, Bella shouted in pain and fear.

He yanked her backwards again, this time successfully.

"NO!" Bella yelled, struggling as much as she could in her state. Her face had hit the ground and snow had slipped in her mouth.

Hands persisted in gripping tightly her ankles, not interested in her pain, while another yank made her scream once more. He was dragging her towards him but she wouldn't let him. Her frozen hands closed around a root, trying to fight him.

"Let me go!" She yelled desperately.

With a final pull, Bella's hands lost their grip and she fell right into his arms, that caged her to his chest. Any movement was difficult as her wrists were tightly held by his gloved hands but she didn't stop struggling.

She never stopped struggling while he dragged her back to the meadow. She yelled, screamed, cried and pleaded him to let her go but he wouldn't answer nor bulge. She was so tired that his warmness was almost making her relax under his deathly grip, lulling her into sleep.

Her body hurt everywhere and she was cold, so cold. Her hands were slowly becoming numb and when they reached the meadow, she stopped struggling.

Was that the way she was going to die? With a bullet into her head?

"P-please, let me go...I won't tell..." She pleaded as he sat her down on the snowy ground, near the dead man.

Everything was red. Everywhere was bloody near the corp.

Bella turned her body, facing her soon to be killer.

And found herself looking into a pair of rich green eyes, that lulled her into a black world.


	3. From The Passenger Seat

_**I was very happy to see your reviews! Thank you so much and enjoy another chapter!**_

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**2- From the passenger seat**

Strawberry.

Her hair smelled of strawberry with a light hint of peach in it.

Edward found himself actually _sniffing_ her.

She was nowhere near the corps' smell, the blood's smell. He was stained in them, he had always been since he could remember, but her perfume...so soft, so endearing. Taking off his gloves, he touched her brown locks. They were like silk under his fingers, not a single knot.

He had never been so close to one of his victims.

_But is she one of them?_ He asked himself.

Shaking that thought away, he continued to caress her head and breathe in her perfume. Her skin was pale but her red cheeks made a good contrast, together with her rosy and full lips.

On her left cheek, a long bloody gash ruined her skin.

Edward couldn't help but clench his jaw as soon as he saw the ones on her hands too. She was clumsy, it seemed. Har hands were frozen and wet, covered in scratches, and her nose was icy.

His green eyes moved to the dead man. She had fainted as soon as she had seen him. Too much blood, maybe. Besides, she had ran away from him and hurt herself. The fear had been too much to bear for a girl like her.

Edward found out that for the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do.

She was young.

And he was strangely attracted to her. She had been the first woman he had touched in his life, apart from his mother. She was another world. No killing, no blood, no corps, no guns. She smelled of fruits and was warm, and welcoming. Her skin was soft, her hair were silk and her brown eyes were drawing him in.

The first thing in his life that wasn't controlled by others.

She was his secret.

He was already failing his job by keeping her alive. Nobody had to know, nobody had to see her. They would kill her without afterthoughts. She had witnessed everything, after all.

Keeping her was suicide.

Killing her...

_She's nothing to you! _

His eyes turned again on her cold body ignoring the voice in his head once again.

_She needs to be warmed up. _

Without thinking, he put his gloves on her frozen hands and wrapped her neck with his white scarf, careful to cover her completely.

_Kill her! For God's sakes, get rid of her!_

He breathed in once again her scent then put an arm under her knees and his hand behind her back and got up from the snowy ground. Due to the movement, her head fell on his chest and, unconsciously, she snuggled against him in search of more warmth.

Edward couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face. Quietly, he walked away from the crime scene.

There was no turning back, not now.

His fingerprints were all over her face and hands, she had seen his face. If he killed her, they would find him.

But if he kept her...

Nobody was going to know.

And who knows, maybe he would find her company enjoyable.

_You're in big trouble, man..._

Edward ignored his last mental warning and stalked away, only interested in the petite form in his arms.

_Mine._

**Oooooo**

Bella felt warm, strangely warm.

And comfortable, strangely comfortable.

She had never thought that dying was going to be like that. She had always thought that after dying, you just rot in your grave. You die and then nothing, end of the story. No pain, no thoughts, no warmth and surely not cosiness.

Yet, she didn't feel dead.

Her cheek and hands burned a little and her ankle was hurting too but she could still feel her heart bumping in her raising and falling chest. She could feel that her neck was wrapped in something warm and soft, that her hands were covered. She could still taste the strange flavour she had in her mouth and swallow. She could smell what seemed to be cologne.

Bella opened her eyes.

And understood she wasn't dead, nope.

She was very much alive, breathing and feeling everything a living person would.

Her head ached and while her eyes adjusted to the brightness of daylight, Bella realized a few things.

First of all, she was in a car. Which car, with whom and where she wasn't sure she wanted to know. The passenger seat she was on was rather soft, however, and she was facing the car's window.

Secondly she saw trees beyond the window. She was still somewhere near the woods, that meant she was still somewhere near Forks, her home, or at least, somewhere in the Washington state.

Thirdly, someone had covered her hands with gloves. Bella was sure she had seen those on the killer's hands but didn't want to deepen her knowledge. Her neck was wrapped in a white scarf. Said scarf, Bella now wanted to cry, was the last time seen on her killer's neck.

Fourthly, someone, who Bella believed was driving, had just cleared his or hers throat. Unfortunately, the voice was too deep to be female.

Last but not least, Bella undestood, much to her discomfort, she was in the killer's car.

And screamed as high as she could, turning hastily and curling into a ball in the farthest side of the passenger seat, facing her captor.

Whom had a rather annoyed face.

"Don't yell." He just said, gripping the steering wheel more tightly.

Bella just stared at him dumbfounded. How could he be so calm and composed after everything? He had just killed a man and kidnapped her! With her face semi-covered in the scarf, she observed him.

He wasn't as old as she had thought at first. Actually, he seemed not much older than her. His coppery and wild hair covered his head, sometimes falling in front of his eyes. His fingers were long and pale, closed on the wheel.

From her point of view, he seemed quite tall.

"You slept three hours." He suddenly added, making Bella grimace at the thought. In three hours the could have already been very far from Forks. They could almost be at Seattle, without anyone knowing!

It was then that Bella talked for the first time, not sure if it was the right thing to do.

"W-where are we...?" If she wanted a chance of survival, she needed to know her location.

He turned for only a second towards her, making Bella take in his green eyes once again.

"Put the seatbelt on." He told her, but then added, "We're reaching Tacoma."

What _exactly_ were they going to do in Tacoma?

"Tacoma...? W-why?" She could only ask. He didn't answer her but Bella wasn't going to accept silence.

"Where are you taking me?"

"We're going to my house, in Chicago. "

_What? _

Had she just heard right? Wasn't he going to kill her? And why Chicago? She just wanted to go home and forget everything, his only presence near her was making her shiver.

And then she broke down, beginning to cry, thanks to the heavy day.

"L-let me g-go..." She said, her voice cracking with fear. "I swear I w-won't tell!"

"I can't do that now. You've seen everything and, anyway, they would be able to find me thanks to my fingerprints all over your face." He said, never facing her.

"If you bring me home now, nobody will know..." She sobbed.

Her hand, at the same time, tried to open the car's door. She sobbed harder when she understood it wasn't going to bulge.

"If I'd left open the car's doors I wouldn't be a good kidnapper, don't you think?" He said, almost chuckling, "Please, don't do anything stupid. If you'd jumped out, you'd likely kill yourself at the speed I'm driving."

"Isn't that what you want?!" Bella suddenly yelled, "I'm going to die anyway!"

The killer shook his head disapprovingly. "Nobody's going to die."

"What...?" She had spoken so softly that she wasn't sure if he had heard.

"I won't kill you. Not now, not ever." He stressed the last word, making her shudder.

"Why?"

Bella felt stupid. If he wasn't going to kill her, then...She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

However, he didn't seem inclined to answer that question and promptly changed subject. "How old are you?"

"What difference does it make?" She whispered back, wiping away some of her tears with the back of the gloves she was wearing.

"Just answer the question." He replied annoyed.

"Seventeen." She quietly said, avoiding his eyes and curling even more in her seat.

"Young." He whispered, then cleared his throat and spoke louder. "For tonight we will stop in Tacoma but we'll leave early in the morning. We should be able to reach Chicago in a few days."

Bella didn't reply.

She was far more interested in the steel object on the car's dash. She couldn't actually believe her own eyes: he had left his gun there, where she could snatch it. She stole a glance in his way but saw, much to her relief, that he hadn't noticed.

In a second Bella had lunged herself towards the gun.

She hadn't thought about the seatbelt, that stopped her rather harshly. Bella let out a whimper of pain and couldn't help but curse.

"Damn, that hurt..."

In a blink of eyes, the car's breaks were screeching loudly and the vehicle was stopping on the road's side. The killer turned toward her, glaring menacingly at her face.

"What happened to not doing anything stupid?" He asked. Bella curled up once again in the passanger seat, as far from him as she could. "That gun is unloaded but I'd prefer if you'd just sat in your seat quietly without trying to kill yourself of me."

And as quickly as they had stopped, they were already on the road again. They sat in silence for a long time, before Bella couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"It hurts..." She whispered, mostly to herself, and was startled when he seemed interested in what she had to say. "I don't feel well and my ankle hurts."

The ankle had never stopped hurting her but now she felt a little feverish. Bella was trembling and felt cold, even thought she was completely covered. When he moved his hand to touch her forehead, she shrunk away from his fingers.

He snorted at her. "If you don't let me touch you, how do you think I'm going to help you?"

"Maybe by letting me go?"

He didn't reply and Bella returned to look outside the window's car. Inadvertently, she fell asleep. It was him shaking her shoulder that woke her up from her slumber. She felt even weaker than before and her skin burned.

"Come on girl, wake up."

Bella looked outside the car. They had stopped in a motel but she wasn't sure where. It didn't seem in a city and the sky was already dark, sign that they hadn't stopped by Tacoma.

"Where are we?" She asked in a sleepy tone.

"Near Keechelus Lake."

So they had already passed by Tacoma. How long had she slept? Fortunately, her ankle didn't hurt much anymore. She stared at him as he quickly went outside the car and reached her door, opening it.

"Get up, we'll stop here for tonight."

Bella didn't move and he reached for her forearm, grasping it tightly.

"Don't touch me!"

He glared and kneeled in front of her, never letting her go. "Girl, you need to stop all this nonsense. You cannot escape in the state your in and you know it. Trying to call someone won't help, because we both know that you wouldn't want another dead person."

"Y-you'd kill-"

"Yes, if he tried to get in my way. Tonight we'll sleep here and you won't try anything, come on."

Bella could only nod and got up from the passenger seat. The air was chilly and it didn't help with her feverish state. Walking was a little difficult with her ankle but nothing she couldn't handle. After all, she preferred to limp all the way to the room without him having to touch her.

As soon as he opened the door for her, Bella stumbled on the doorstep and fell hard on the floor, hittin her head on the red carpet. She couldn't even understand what had happened that she was already being carried to the bed.


End file.
